The Divinity Developer Clarifies Its Use of Machine Learning for Upcoming Project

The developer behind popular RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just unveiled its new project, generating immense hype within the player base. However, subsequent statements from the company's lead designer have introduced a new dimension to the narrative, addressing the developer's philosophy toward generative artificial intelligence.

Augmenting Workflows, Not Cutting Jobs

In a recent clarification, the studio's founder explained that the company is using machine learning for certain preliminary tasks. These involve developing PowerPoint slides, producing initial visual ideas, and writing placeholder copy.

Crucially, Vincke stressed that the shipping material in the game will be crafted exclusively by actual artists. "Larian is developing everything manually," he stated.

Our studio is continuously growing our roster of concept artists and are currently putting together writing teams.

As concept art is being explicitly mentioned — we currently have twenty-three visual developers and have roles to fill for more talent.

All our efforts we do is incremental and focused on letting our team spend additional energy on actual creation.

Every AI system used well is additive to a artist's workflow, not a replacement for their talent.

Addressing Concerns and Clarifying the Vision

The admission of AI usage at first sparked backlash among portions of the fanbase. In response, Vincke issued more clarification on social media.

"We use machine learning to explore references, similar to we use search engines and physical media," he stated. "In the very early ideation stages we use it as a basic framework for composition which we then swap out with original artwork."

He continued, "Larian brings on creatives for their unique talent, not for their capacity to follow what a machine suggests."

Three Pillars of Practical Application

Vincke had earlier broken down the team's focused approach to this technology, grouping its use into key functions:

• Automation of Tedious Tasks: This encompasses motion capture cleaning, dialogue cleanup, and pipeline-specific tasks like retargeting animations.
• Accelerated Iteration: Using systems to quickly build simple versions of gameplay ideas to test concepts ahead of full development.
• Long-Term Aspirations: Researching how machine learning could in the future create new forms of gameplay, especially in managing player-driven narratives in a detailed game universe.

He clearly noted that central narrative domains — like music composition — are not departments where the company is replacing human involvement. On the contrary, Larian is actively hiring in these exact fields.

"We are not shipping a game with any AI components, nor planning on reducing teams to replace them with artificial intelligence," Vincke stated definitively.